@mga: I've discussed this with a few people, and the idea for the headers is to have an option. That is, when you order the board, you can get 1) no headers, 2) male header pins, 3) female header sockets, or 4) 0.1" screw-downs. None are mounted in production - the option connectors are simply shipped with the board and must be soldered in.

RE: mowcius' concern for the reset switch - that switch is 1/2 the size of the typical Omron switch and we have used it on a few boards.

My vote would go for the male. There is convenience when having females to just put the cable in but later it can become a mess when you want to "go pro" with the project.

The idea is that you can use any of the three. The boards will require you to solder the headers/screw terminals. Perhaps pre-soldered sockets/screw terminals will be an option for the starting-out hobbyist who wants to flash a few LEDs but hasn't got onto soldering yet (or is not too good at it yet).

Might I also suggest an onboard LED. I know that wiring is often used mainly by people a bit more into it and beginners seem to go more towards the larger community of ard*ino but it's nice to have one. Perhaps give this a pad and solder jumper so it can be completely disconnected (so pullup resistors work correctly) or left enabled.

While I'm here... any considerations of auto-reset a la arduino? I ask because I am working on a project now using both a 1st gen Wiring board and an arduino and being able to upload without pressing reset is helpful. I've also done some embedded pieces using arduino where access to the board was difficult so auto reset enabled me to easily program it 'in situ'

I did love to see the following specs:1)Atmega - (your choice)2)32KB RAM3)32KB EEEPROM4)* bit Analog-Digital Converter5)Input Capture and Output compare port (for sensors)6) DC/Servo motor driver + (PWM)7)LCD module with backlight(for debugging and selecting programs)8) Switch (Start & Stop)9) Knob/joystick/buttons for Analog to digital projects(also to use to select programs10)LED/Speaker for user friendly indications.11)RS-232/I2C/whatever you like for downloading and interacting with the software.12)Rechargeable Circuit.

and low cost!!

Well, I am a bot tinkerer. Which includes toying around with AI & stuff like Display and gadgets. And This is what I fell should be a really great board (for technostuff) that'll last for a century.

After some thought, I wonder whether a polarity diode on the barrel connector would be a good idea for protection. I don't think that it would be a good idea at the raw input connector (VIN) though, since we'd like to keep that voltage as close as possible to the minimum required at the regulators.

I would personally would't really care - I have made a few barrel jack adaptors which connect to batteries. Although I don't use them very often (temporary connection to a 9v battery for testing) if I did use one and I had messed it up, a protection diode could be helpful.

If you can make it relatively easy to get to and either THT or a large SMD package, people who are less likely to reverse polarity and need the lower dropout can replace it with a wire easily enough. Cost is negligible But then again, those people are probably using VIn anyway.

I can't say I have seen many 6v power adaptors. Most are 9v or 12v so I'd go for it.